I think that Stephen in the post prior to mine has hit the spot. Unfortunately the caliber of contestants has fallen. Having said this, I strongly believe every year a couple of gems surface in the sea of unprofessional, gung-ho, and simply put rude candidates. It shocks me every episode how the wannabe apprentices can be so damming of one another. The amount of respect for their 'colleagues' is shocking.

As for Kevin….. the phrase 'dug his own grave' springs to mind!

Lucinda and Raef in my mind are key to this series; not only do they brighten up the boardroom, they actually have a little respect for the others in the house as shown in the closing part of the show when Sara was being ‘attacked’. Similarly this has happened in the car to Lucinda previously…if only Raef had been there then as well!

A truly gifted successful business person wouldn't go near this show, due to the random nature of the editing and luck involved in succeeding. Most entrepreneurs wouldn't give up control of how they were portrayed to a film crew and director.

I am certain that, like Big Brother, the calibre of genuine contestants is slipping here, to be replaced with TV wannabes, and deluded no-hopers.

What is it with their obsession about "nailing" people to things? Once again I'm hearing the same old tired clichés of yaa-boo business through over-inflation of the ego.

What's wrong with doing a quiet focussed job and selling 100,000 cards through thoughtful well-planned and organised teamwork?

In my view both Lucinda and Sara are being singled out because they won't buy in to this crap. Now they may not be brilliant, but they've each led a task and won it and did so without the full cooperation of their teams.

Looks to me like Alex might win, though I agree with Andy that he switches sides faster than an apprentice can say "I am an extremely successful X…".

Or perhaps Raef or Claire. Maybe SAS will add some new candidates just to shake it up? I can always hope!

Tom.

I have just got back from a well earned holiday. Having missed two episodes of The Apprentice, I was busting to see what Sir Alan had masterminded for the two teams to get their teeth into this week.

As I watched I found myself asking if this show is a wind up and purely about entertainment and not about finding a true leader who has the basic leadership and commercial skills to be a future business success under the tutelage of Sir Alan and his team.

So far I have yet to see anyone who has the right level of leadership skills and business acumen to be a valuable apprentice to Sir Alan. The show seems to demonstrate each week how not to be successful in business and seems more about ego and arrogance. In previous series there was at least one or two that stood out from the crowd. This bunch just seem to blend into the mediocrity.

You are right Gavin in your commentary that the two ideas really did not hold any commercial merit. They both failed miserably in that any business manager would know how to assess client need. Identifying customer need was sorely missing in either team.

The first team’s idea of "celebrate being single" day was grossly flawed. Let’s be honest who wants to be sent a card reminding them they are “Billy no mates” At best you would need to know your friend so well that they would not feel offended by receiving a well done you are single card! To do this the day before valentines day demonstrated a lack of understanding on launch timing and logistics in a business.

The other team’s idea, whilst commendable, was based on a crusade rather than thinking about who would buy the card and dare to send it to a friend. I agree that we must do something to save the planet but I want to keep some friends too. There are much better ways to get your friends to be more environmentally friendly. Sending your best friends’ a card reminding them of their obligations to conserve resources was quite simply stupid.

Even worse Jenny really put her foot in it when she made the comment to the boss of Clintons Cards that she had stopped buying cards as her way of helping the environment. Imagine trying to sell a product to a major client and making a statement that you have stopped buying their type of products as they are a source of pollution. I am surprised that they were not asked to leave the building at that point When Jenny said that I could not help but gasp in shock. Did she realise what she had said? I don’t think so. Kevin then backed it up by suggesting that should Clintons not back this concept then they are as bad as the USA not backing climate change. No wonder Clinton’s boss told Sir Alan that this concept and pitch was the most outrageous and insulting they had ever experienced.

Kevin signed his own death warrant when he failed to bring Jenny into the boardroom. I am not sure it would have made a difference but had he realised Sir Alan’s disdain for what he thought was Jenny’s idea he might have been able to make a case for Jenny to go.

I was also saddened to see the pack of animals turn on Sara at the end. She might blend into the background but thankfully Raif stood up and was counted. He was right to point out that Sir Alan had made the decision and it was not for them to turn on one member of the group suggesting that they should have gone.

I am looking forward to the next instalment but hope to see someone demonstrate some commercial skills-skills that I am sure Sir Alan is really looking for. I bet at this half way stage he is wondering what he is going to get in return for his £100k+ salaried apprentice!

Could this be the first Apprentice show where he simply fires them all?